Overachieving honor student at prep school commits suicide after relentless bullying, family says

Prosecutors are investigating the death of a Connecticut prep school student whose obituary indicated that he took his own life after struggling with bullying from his classmates.

The obituary said that Connor Tronerud, 15, of Sutton, Massachusetts, committed suicide on December 4. In lieu of flowers, the family requested that contributions be made to the White Knight Fund, which will allow children to visit Tronerud’s favorite summer camp, or the White Knight Youth Advocacy, who will donate the funds to anti-bullying initiatives and self-harm education groups in the late teen’s honor.

Tronerud was a sophomore at Marianapolis Preparatory School, a Catholic day and boarding school located in Thompson, Connecticut. Before that, he attended the Our Lady of the Angels in Worcester, “where he earned the highest GPA in the school’s history and secured a spot in the National Junior Honor Society,” his family wrote.

Reverend Dan Mulcahy, a pastor at Our Lady of the Assumption, where Tronerud was an altar server, described him as a “sweet kid” to Boston.com. He also claimed that the teen had returned to school two weeks before his death, after recovering from an accident where he broke both his legs.

“This shouldn’t have happened,” the reverend said of Tronerud’s death.

“As he transitioned into adolescence, he struggled with peers invading that privacy in order to provoke a response. He had many spaces in which he felt safe and nurtured; others – including social media – proved overwhelming and harmful.”

The head of Marianapolis Prep, Joseph C. Hanrahan, said in a statement that the school is “continuously vigilant” to all forms of aggression, including cyberbullying, and “respond swiftly and compassionately” to reported incidents.

This week, the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office confirmed to WTIC that they, along with the Massachusetts State Police, are investigating the teen’s death.

A spokesperson for Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. told the Hartford Courant, “We investigate all unattended deaths in our county, so yes — this is under investigation.”